OMAHA, Neb. - The Creighton softball team steps out of BIG EAST conference play for a single game against former Missouri Valley Conference foe Drake; currently slated for 4 p.m. CT Wednesday in Des Moines.

BLUEJAY QUICK HITS

· Creighton is 18-10 on the season. After a slow start to the tournament season, the Bluejays are winners of 14 of their last 15 games. The current win streak stands at nine contests in a row and includes a two-game sweep last weekend at Butler (10-0, 6-0) in the Jays’ BIG EAST debut.

· Senior Becca Changstrom took home BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honors on Monday for the second straight week. Changstrom has won six of her last seven starts and seven straight overall decisions to improve to 9-5 on the year.

· In her last nine appearances dating back to March 9, Changstrom is 7-0, with an amazing ERA of 0.14. She has allowed just one run through 51.2 innings pitched in that span and given up just 16 hits while striking out 72 as part of five double-digit strikeout efforts.

· Junior Liz Dike also claimed BIG EAST Player Hitter of the Week honors last week for a Creighton sweep of the weekly league awards. Last week, Dike was 6-of-9 from the plate for a .667 average in a 3-0 week for the Bluejays, which included a mid-week win over Wichita State and a Saturday sweep of league foe Butler.

· Dike belted a BIG EAST weekly-best five home runs and 10 RBI, showing a 2.333 slugging percentage. Dike provided the game-winning RBI in all three of Creighton’s wins last week, including a solo shot to give the Bluejays’ a 2-1 lead in the second inning against the Shockers, a solo home run in the fourth in the opener at Butler and a three-run blast in the first inning of the second game.

· The Bluejays opened BIG EAST play as one of four undefeated squads after the first weekend of play in the eight-team league. The Jays are 2-0 and tied with DePaul just one-half game behind Seton Hall and Georgetown at 3-0. The Hoyas visit Omaha later this week for a series beginning on noon on Saturday. That series begins an extended home stretch as CU plays nine straight and 13-of-16 games in the state of Nebraska.

· Creighton’s pitching staff leads the BIG EAST with a 2.19 ERA and 202 strikeouts this season.

· The Jays’ also rank high in fielding percentage in the league with a mark of .964, good for second overall.

· After dealing with an ACL injury earlier in the season, CU senior Ellen Homan now ranks fourth overall in the BIG EAST with a batting average of .390. She has 23 hits, nine RBI and two HR in just 18 games this season.

· Dike leads the BIG EAST with 10 home runs, 27 RBI and 59 total bases this season and ranks second in runs scored at 19. Meanwhile, Changstrom leads the BIG EAST with 138 K’s this year.

· Senior Blair Lowe is tied for second on the squad with Homan with 23 hits and is third on the team with a .261 average at the dish. She also leads the team with four stolen bases this season.

· Dike, Lowe, junior Bri Lingl and sophomore Kelsey Allender have started all 28 games for the Jays this season. A year ago four women started all 47 games, a group that included senior Alexis Cantu, Lowe and Allender. In addition, Lingl (45 starts) and Dike (46) were also regulars in the starting nine.

· Creighton is in its first season in the BIG EAST after a long run in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays were picked second in the preseason poll, trailing only DePaul. Last season Creighton was picked fourth in the preseason MVC poll, but would go on to win the regular-season title.

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